Something unusual stops a novelist from finishing her book

The whole town was empty. Completely deserted. The only sounds came from a slight wind and a few birds somewhere in the distance.

When she’d left her house that morning, Cassie had been surprised at the lack of traffic. Even at 10am on a Tuesday, the streets should have had a few cars going up and down them.

But getting to an empty grocery store parking lot had given her pause. Is it a holiday? Are they closed?

She went to check the posted hours on the door, and was shocked when it slid open, revealing an abandoned store within.

Cassie had hesitated, wondering if she should go inside or not. I just wanted a bottle of wine, she thought.

Five painstaking years she’d spent on her novel. Five years of research. Five years of telling people at parties that she was a writer. Five years of convincing her parents to take her seriously, even though she’d eaten ramen every night.

Ugh, she thought. Five years of ramen. She looked down at the door as it slid shut. I deserve a bottle of wine. Or a case.

Today, if everything went right, Cassie would finally finish her novel. Of course, there was still submitting to a publisher and all the editing that comes along with that, but she’d have a 100% complete manuscript for once.

Except, everything hadn’t gone right today. Her best friend Tricia hadn’t answered her phone earlier, and Cassie was starting to wonder if that was connected to this empty store.

More than a little freaked out, Cassie stepped backward, the motion causing the automatic door to open again. She checked her phone, but couldn’t find any indication that today was a holiday.

A frightening thought entered her mind. Am I the only one left?

If she was, then she had more important things to worry about than finishing her novel.